


Higher Ground

by ExtraSteps



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Confession, First Kiss, M/M, Misunderstanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 02:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15427179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraSteps/pseuds/ExtraSteps
Summary: Brett needs to find Nolan to apologise and make things right, but he's nowhere to be found.





	Higher Ground

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mskristinamay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mskristinamay/gifts).



Brett scanned the bleachers and lacrosse field, frustration and worry roiling in his chest. He'd been trying to find Nolan all day, but despite the fact that he was human and Brett was a born wolf, he'd successfully managed to evade him. Even at lunch time Nolan had been nowhere to be found, and the nagging suspicion that Nolan was avoiding him had now become a certainty. It stung. If Nolan would just give him a chance to explain...   


He spotted Liam standing by the bench with Corey and jogged over, and they both turned towards him, frowning as they took in his expression.   


"What's wrong?" Liam asked.   


"I can't find Nolan, have you seen him?" Brett asked.   


Liam looked at Corey, who shrugged. "Not really," Corey said. "He was in home room this morning. I didn't notice anything."   


"No signs?" Liam asked sharply.   


Corey seemed to consider this seriously, while Brett looked on in confusion. Signs?   


"He was a bit tense," Corey mused. "I remember him drumming his fingers on the table."   


"Okay," Liam said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So he was already at a 2 this morning." He turned away, looking over at the bleachers where Mason was sitting, and gestured him over. Mason got up and joined them, scanning their faces.   


"What's going on?" He asked.   


"Nolan's ghosting," Liam explained.   


"What level?" Mason asked, eyes narrowing.   


"We don't know yet, we're trying to figure that out," Liam explained. "He was a two in home room. How about in English?"   


Brett was now completely lost. Signs? Levels? Ghosting? He had no idea what was going on.   


"He sat at the back," Mason reported. "So he was behind me. But I did hear his music playing pretty loudly."   


Liam cursed. "A three. Anything else?"   


Mason shook his head. "I only noticed it because someone else commented on how loud it was."   


"Am I missing something?" Brett asked.   


All three boys glanced at each other, a silent communication that Brett couldn't read, and then as one turned to look at him. It was a bit creepy, and Brett took an involuntary step back.   


"What did you do?" Liam demanded.   


"Yeah, why are you looking for Nolan?" Corey asked, eyes flashing.   


"If you upset him, I swear to god I will end you," Mason said, lip turned up in a sneer.   


"Look," Brett said firmly. "It was just a misunderstanding. I've been trying to find him all day to apologise, and instead I couldn't find him anywhere."   


Liam shot him a skeptical look. "Well, where did you look?"   


"The library," Brett said. Corey scoffed. "The locker room. The cafeteria." Mason shook his head, his sneer changing into a smirk. "And now here," Brett finished.   


"You don't know him very well, do you?" Liam observed.   


He turned away from Brett to look at the others. "Mason, you take the roof. Corey, see if he's in the tree house. I'll go check the lookout."   


The other two took off in different directions, and Liam turned to look at him, searching his face. "How upset was he?" Liam asked him.   


"I don't know," Brett admitted.

"Come on," Liam said. "You can tell me what happened on the way."   


Brett followed Liam, leading him over to his car. "Where are we going?"   


"Do you know that lookout, the one in the preserve where you can see the whole town?" Liam asked, putting his seatbelt on.   


"Yeah," Brett frowned. "It's not that far from here."   


Liam nodded. "That's the one. Go there. If he was a three before the end of  first period, he's almost definitely there."   


"I don't understand," Brett said quietly as he drove out of the parking lot. "What's going on?"   


Liam sighed, looking out the window. "The thing about Nolan is that he bottles things up, and he gets agitated, until he feels like he has to get away," he explained. "Level one is your usual sort of grumpiness, not that big a deal. You'd probably find him out on the bleachers at lunch, up near the top."   


Brett glanced at him, but stayed quiet, letting Liam continue.   


"Level two is when he gets fidgety. Still manageable. He might go up to the roof or the treehouse. Three is blocking out everything around him, which is a definite bail on school and go to the treehouse," Liam said.   


"And higher than a three?" Brett asked, anxiety filling him.   


"The lookout," Liam said grimly. "And depending on how bad it is, depends on what condition we find him in."   


"Condition?" Brett breathed. "What the fuck does that mean?"   


"It means," Liam said, glaring at him. "That if Nolan is drinking from a fucking bottle, then I'm going to break your legs, and have fun doing it. And then go and cuddle him until he sobers up and you've healed. And then I'll break them again."   


Brett should probably feel scared at the threat, but he was far more worried about Nolan. He stepped on the gas, anxiety making him clench the steering wheel. He hadn't hurt Nolan that badly, had he? He hadn't meant to. He'd just been surprised, and Nolan had run off before Brett could do anything other than gape at him. By the time he'd realised what was going on, Nolan was already long gone.   


"What happened?" Liam asked quietly.   


Brett took a shaky breath, trying to pull in his emotions a little. "He kissed me," he whispered.   


Liam nodded. "And what did you do?"   


"Nothing," Brett said bitterly, "which is the problem. I was so surprised. We were just talking and then he grabbed my shirt and pulled me down for a kiss. And next thing I knew he was gone."   


The anger and anxiety coming from Liam softened and then vanished. It was replaced with amusement. "I see," he said.   


Brett shot a look at him. "What does that mean?"   


"You like him," Liam observed.   


"Of course I fucking like him," Brett said. "But I ignored it. I thought Nolan was straight."   


"Nolan is Nolan," Liam shrugged. "I don't think labels are his thing."   


"I'm such an idiot," Brett muttered. "Cute guy kisses me and I freeze like a deer in headlights."   


"Yep," Liam said cheerfully. "You're a moron."   


They pulled up in the parking lot of the look out, but Liam made no move to get out. Brett looked at him. "You're not coming?" He asked.   


Liam shook his head. "Nope. Nolan's got himself worked up over kissing you and thinking you don't like him. The only one that can fix that is you."   


Brett sighed and nodded, undoing his seatbelt.   


"Don't fuck it up," Liam advised him, leaning back in his chair and pulling out his phone.   


"Right," Brett said, getting out of the car and making his way over to the lookout tower. He reached the steps and glanced up. He could smell Nolan's scent now, and it made his chest ache with the bitter sadness and regret that swirled through it.   


Brett found Nolan right at the very top of the lookout, staring out over the town. There was no sign of any alcohol, for which Brett was incredibly thankful. He moved over to Nolan, standing beside him. He saw Nolan tense, but otherwise the blond boy gave  no indication of having noticed him.   


He racked his brain for what to say. He'd planned it in his head all day, but now that Nolan was right next to him, they failed him. Nothing seemed good enough.   


"I'm sorry," he said eventually.   


Nolan's shoulders slumped. "It's fine," he whispered. "I don't even know why I did it."   


Brett frowned, feeling a painful ache in his chest. "You don't like me?" He asked, sorrow threatening to choke him.   


With a frown, Nolan finally turned to look up at him. There were tear tracks running down his cheeks, his eyes a little red and cheeks blotchy. He searched Brett's face, looking confused.   


"I thought  _ you _ didn't like  _ me _ ," he said.   


Brett blinked. "Why?"   


"You didn't kiss me back," Nolan pointed out. "And you just said you were sorry."   


"Yeah," Brett said, "because I upset you. I didn't mean to. You just surprised me."   


Nolan tilted his head to the side, looking like an adorably confused puppy. "Wait," he said slowly. "You weren't apologising because you don't like me that way?"   


"No," Brett said firmly. "I do, like you, I mean. A lot. Fuck. I'm so rubbish at this."   


He ran a hand through his hair, feeling agitated. When he finally looked back at Nolan, he found him looking up at him hopefully. "You do?" Nolan whispered. "You wanted to kiss me back?"   


Brett nodded, giving him a shy smile. "Once my brain recovered from the shock I went looking for you straight away, but you'd disappeared. I tried looking for you all day, but apparently I was looking in all the wrong places."   


Nolan looked sheepish at this. "Yeah, my mum always used to say that when I get upset I seek higher ground." He shrugged, dropping his gaze. "The more upset I am, the higher the ground."   


Brett looked around. "Can't get much higher than this," he said sadly.   


Nolan nodded. Brett looked down. Nolan was playing with the edge of his sweater, pulling at the fraying hem. He reached down, taking his hand, gently intertwining their fingers.   


"Can we maybe try it again?" Brett asked, voice shaking a little. He was so nervous, but all he'd thought about all night and now all day was the soft press on Nolan's lips against his, so brief that he'd barely even been able to taste him when he'd licked his lips.   


He saw Nolan smile, his face still mostly hidden by his hair as he looked down at their hands. "Yeah," he said quietly, slowly looking at him, wetting his lips with his tongue, blue eyes searching his. Brett leaned down slowly, keeping his gaze until the last moment, before closing them and gliding his lips over Nolan's, his heart almost jumping out of his chest as Nolan sighed, reaching up on his toes to deepen the kiss, extricating his hands from Brett's so that he could slide them up and around his neck,  holding him close.   


Brett cradled Nolan against his chest, kissing him thoroughly, communicating the depth of his feelings with every tender brush of his lips. The scent of pure happiness and excitement filled his nostrils as they kissed, and it warmed Brett from the inside out, making him feel like he was almost bursting out of his skin, his heart racing in his chest.   


"Nolan," Brett whispered, kissing him again, not willing to give up his mouth anytime soon, barely even stopping long enough to take a breath before he was diving back in. Nolan was just as eager, clinging to him, shaking in Brett's hold and giving little whimpers that sent blood rushing south.   


"Are you two coming up for air anytime soon?" Liam asked. He was down at the bottom of the stairs, but Brett could hear him clearly.   


He dragged himself away from Nolan's mouth. "Fuck off Liam." And dived back in, kissing Nolan hungrily, hands tightening possessively on Nolan's waist. Nolan moaned, gripping his hair and tugging, making Brett give a low moan of his own.   


"Jesus," Liam muttered. "Look, Brett, you fucking drove me here."   


Brett cursed, pulling away from Nolan again, who just started kissing down his jaw instead. "It's not that far," Brett pointed out. "Nolan walked here, and he's human."

"I'm never helping you again Talbot, you traitorous wanker," Liam called up. He didn't sound annoyed though, so Brett ignored him in favour of sliding a hand up Nolan's back to cup the back of his neck and guide his lips back to his.   


"Is he gone now?" Nolan murmured, tongue darting out to swipe Brett's.   


Brett felt his knees weaken at the taste of him, lust flaring in his chest, molten hot. "Yes," he groaned.

"Thank god," Nolan growled, before sucking on his tongue and deepening the kiss.   


Arousal was thick in the air and Brett had to physically pull himself away, leaning against the railing and panting for breath. He opened his eyes, looking out over at the city, feeling Nolan move next to him, shoulder brushing his.   


"You okay?" Nolan asked, a little breathless.   


Brett glanced down at him. "Yeah, I think that was just going a little quicker than either of us is really ready for. You okay?"   


Nolan nodded, and Brett examined him, admiring the freckles that dotted his skin underneath his flushed red cheeks. His lips were a little bruised, eyes shining as he looked up at him through his incredibly long golden eyelashes. Brett reached up, cupping his cheek and brushing his thumb over the heated skin. "I like you," he said quietly. "I like you a lot, Nolan. I don't want to fuck this up."

The blond gave him a shy smile. "Well if you do, you know where to find me."   


Brett stepped in closer, pulling Nolan into a tight hug, leaning down to bury his face in Nolan's neck. "I'm sorry, Nolan," he whispered.   


Nolan pulled back slightly, looking up at him. "It was my fault really," he said with a sigh. "I was so nervous that I just kissed you and ran. I should have given you a chance to respond, even if it was to say no thank you."   


"Okay, how about if we agree that we're both a bit ridiculous?" He suggested.   


"I think I can agree to that," Nolan said, eyes twinkling. "No more running away."   


"And no more freezing up when this cute blond guy kisses me," Brett agreed.   


Nolan blushed. "You think I'm cute?" He squeaked.   


Brett grinned. "Adorable."


End file.
